Russell Wilson was nearly a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. And so was Colin Kaepernick.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the San Francisco 49ers nearly shipped Kaepernick to Philly prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, believing that they were already set at the quarterback position with incumbent Alex Smith. But the Eagles pulled out of the deal at the last minute, focusing instead on drafting another signal-caller in the third round: Wilson.
The only problem for Philadelphia? Pete Carroll, John Schneider and the Seahawks swooped in to take Wilson ahead of them. So instead of Sunday night’s matchup being a clash of Smith versus Matt Flynn, Seahawks and Niners fans were treated to a battle of two of the league’s best young quarterbacks.
The NFL Draft lends itself to a lot of healthy debate, both as it happens and afterward. A year and a half after the 2012 edition, we look back to see how each of the quarterbacks selected is faring. And while Kaepernick wasn’t part of it – he was drafted a year earlier in 2011 – the class is regarded as potentially one of the best in NFL history.

Heading into the draft, Luck was pegged as one of the safest quarterback selections of all-time, and he hasn’t disappointed. Last season, the former Stanford star led Indianapolis to the biggest single-season turnaround in NFL history (a nine-win swing from 2011) and a playoff appearance, passing for 4,374 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushing for five more. He did throw 18 interceptions, but he’s not exactly surrounded by elite talent, and many of his mistakes can be chalked up to simply trying to do too much.
Through two games this season he’s thrown for 499 yards, three touchdowns and only one interception while leading his team to a 1-1 start. He’s already one of the most cerebral players in the league, and a criminally underrated athlete – his 40-yard dash time was better than Cam Newton’s in 2011. While Luck may not be the flashiest of the group, his steady start should have Colts fans feeling lucky heading into the future.

Oh, how different things might have looked if not for the knee injury Griffin sustained in Washington’s Wild Card playoff loss to the Seahawks in January.
During the 2012 regular season, RG3 set the football world ablaze with nearly unmatched natural ability as both a passer and runner. He was simply electric, passing for 3,200 yards and 20 touchdowns, and adding an another 815 yards and seven scores on the ground. He racked up endorsement deals for everything from Adidas to Gatorade to Subway, and led the Skins to the playoffs.
But after surgery to repair the extensive ligament damage he suffered against the Seahawks, Griffin missed all of the preseason, making his 2013 debut against the Eagles in Week 1. His results through two games now are not encouraging. Though the numbers aren’t awful – 649 yards passing and five touchdowns – Griffin looks very little like the explosive, dynamic player we saw last year.
Perhaps that player will re-emerge once Griffin gets more comfortable playing on his reconstructed knee, but with some Washington fans already calling for backup Kirk Cousins to start – more on him later – RG3’s story at this point is bittersweet.

With Luck, Griffin and Wilson all leading their teams to playoff appearances in their first seasons, Tannehill might be the forgotten man of the group. New Dolphins coach Joe Philbin hitched his wagon to the former Texas A&M wide receiver-turned-quarterback, and after beating out Matt Moore and David Garrad in the preseason Tannehill started all 16 games for the Phins in 2012. He put up respectable numbers, passing for 3,294 yards, 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, with one of the worst supporting casts – in terms of offensive skill positions – in the league.
Miami upgraded in the offseason, bringing in a big-play threat in former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Wallace and a reliable veteran in former St. Louis Ram (and former WSU Cougar) Brandon Gibson, and the buzz surrounding Tannehill is that he looks much improved heading into his second season at the helm. Through two games he’s looked it, throwing for 591 yards and completing more than 65 percent of his passes while leading the Dolphins to a 2-0 record, including a win over Luck and the Colts last Sunday.

The hype surrounding Weeden before the draft was his age. At 28-years-old after a four-year baseball career, he was the oldest player ever selected in the first round of the draft when the Browns took him out of Oklahoma State. His play thus far has done little to distract from that storyline.
After beating out incumbent Colt McCoy in the 2012 preseason, he passed for 3,385 yards, 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while playing in all but one game for Cleveland. This season, with a new head coach in Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, Wedden is off to rough start, passing for 516 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He’s doubtful to play this Sunday against Minnesota after suffering a thumb injury last week against Baltimore.

The Broncos raised some eyebrows when they chose Osweiler in the second round. After all, they’d just signed Peyton Manning to a free-agent deal in the offseason. But remember, Manning was coming off of a neck injury that caused him to miss the entire 2011 season, and his health was no guarantee.
Suffice to say, Denver probably could have used that pick elsewhere, as Manning has played exceptionally since going to Denver. Osweiler did appear in five games last season, but the former Arizona State signal-caller was relegated to handoff and kneeling duties. Yet in the 6-foot-7 former Sun Devil, the Broncos have a young, raw talent they can groom into a possible replacement for Manning down the line.

Coming into the draft, possibly no player was more polarizing than Wilson. Some scouts freely acknowledged that he had top-10 talent, but the fact he was 5-foot-11 led many to take him off of their draft boards entirely, believing he was simply too small to play in the NFL.
You know the story from there. The Seahawks jumped on Wilson in the third round, and after beating out Matt Flynn in the offseason, the former Wisconsin Badger went on to have one of the greatest rookie years in NFL history, tying Manning’s rookie record of 26 touchdown passes while rushing for four more, and leading the Hawks to the NFC Divisional Playoffs.
Wilson is accurate, poised and polished and – a year and a half after being overlooked – is the face of arguably the best team in the NFL.
His numbers this year aren’t spectacular by any means (462 yards, two touchdowns and one interception), but Wilson has led the Hawks to a 2-0 start.

After Wilson slipped through the Eagles' fingers, they snapped up former Arizona Wildcat Foles with their third-round pick. Projected to be a developmental project, Foles was forced into action last season after an injury to starter Michael Vick. He played fairly well, completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,699 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions, but couldn’t beat out Vick for the starting job in new head coach Chip Kelly’s offense this season. He’s currently the backup in Philly behind Vick and ahead of ex-USC Trojan Matt Barkley, the team’s fourth-round pick this year.

The Redskins made a surprise move when they drafted the former Spartan in the fourth round, but the team maintained he was simply too good to pass up at that stage in the draft. The Skins may have a point. The former Michigan State Spartan saw action in three games last season as RG3's backup, passing for 466 yards and four touchdowns and looking impressive enough that some fans are calling for him to start until Griffin gets back to looking like his old self.
Like Luck, Cousins is a field-general type with surprising athleticism, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see a team desperate for quarterback try to trade a high draft pick to pry him away from Washington. Whether Cousins turns out to be more like Matt Hasselbeck or Matt Flynn is anyone’s guess.

Lindley was the eighth and final quarterback from the 2012 class to see game action in his rookie season, playing in seven games and starting four. But it wasn’t pretty. Lindley completed just 52 percent of his passes for 752 yards, although those don’t count the seven completions he made to other teams’ players. After new head coach Bruce Arians acquired Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton in the offseason, the former San Diego State Aztec has been relegated to third-string duty.

The Packers took a flier on Coleman as a developmental prospect, and exiting the 2013 preseason he was the only quarterback on the roster aside from starter Aaron Rodgers. But before Week 1, the Packers signed former Seahawks QB Seneca Wallace, and Coleman was released. The former Tennessee-Chatanooga passer is currently a free agent.

The Colts started and ended the draft with a quarterback, making the former Northern Illinois signal-caller 2012’s Mr. Irrelevant. But Harnish stuck with the team and is currently a member of the Colts' practice squad, although he’s probably best known for hitting Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver with a pass in warm-ups that left Oliver with a preseason concussion.